Archives - 25 January 2012, Wednesday

Bartholomäus Traubeck /Screen capture Aside from the gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze, or the creaking of a bough in a winter gale, a tree's character may best be described as 'the strong and silent type' -- but, as so often is the case with such personalities, they just might ...

Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez were recent grads who were supposed to go into investment banking, but they became obsessed with the idea that mushrooms could be grown in old coffee grounds, reports Sarah Stankorb at GOOD . Faster than you can say “triple bottom line” they’d interest...

This analysis shows that the Institute of Public Affairs, an Australian neoliberal think tank, has used its access to the media as a news source to influence the public discussion on climate change in Australia. The rhetorical vision expressed by the IPA is one of hostility towards cl...

Photo by Pete Souza/White House. After every State of the Union speech, pundits rush to lament that the speech contained lofty rhetoric unmatched by substantial policy proposals. All the concrete ideas are “small bore,” a “laundry list.” And indeed, that’s a fair way to characterize l...

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said: "The Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court ruling on FITs albeit on different grounds. We disagree and are seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. “We have already put before Parliament changes to the regulations tha...

At the start of 2012 we should be energised by the news that BASF , the German chemical and seeds giant, has decided to pull out of genetically modified plant development in Europe. This is testament to the effectiveness of public pressure and 'another nail in the coffin for genetical...

comes this amazing 26-second video, depicting how temperatures around the globe have warmed since 1880. That year is what scientists call the beginning of the “modern record.” You’ll note an acceleration of those temperatures in the late 1970s as greenhouse gas emissions from energy p...

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A triple bottom line business philosophy, a massive push to slash its carbon footprint and selling basic medicines at a discount to poor countries carried Novo Nordisk to the top of the list of the world's 100 most sustainable companies. The Danish pharmaceutical firm was ranked No. 1...

The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) has found a non-profit home in Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) which provides it fiscal sponsorship and logistical support. CSLDF lets scientific colleagues and the public directly help climate scientists protect ...

Last year's flooding on the Mississippi River has been linked to climate change. (Photo by the USDA.) While the topic of climate change in this country often feels like the truth that dare not speak its name, there is no escaping what Grist’s own David Roberts refers to as its “brutal...

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Because of the enduring green epiphany of its charismatic founder, Ray Anderson, the influence of Interface has always been outsized in the world of sustainability. In the wake of Anderson's death last autumn at age 77, following a nearly two-year battle with cancer, the focus has shi...

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The development of natural gas will create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy. And by the way, it was public research dollars, over the course of 30 years, that helped develop t...

Potentially new species of damselfly, a male and female of Argia sp. in tandem at Iwana Samu. Argia is the most speciose damselfly genus in the New World, and four of the eight species of this genus found during this RAP are new to science. The new species photographed here breeds in ...

Animation Charts Modern Global Warming By THE NEW YORK TIMES Drawing on data from its Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NASA has produced a striking video showing how temperatures around the globe have risen since 1880. (Climate Central’s Web site was the first to feature the video.)

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As the camera pans around the Capitol chamber for President Obama’s State of the Union address, see if you can spot the representatives from the state of Oil: four avid supporters of the Keystone XL Pipeline who will attend the speech as the guests of House Speaker John Boehner. Oh, r...

“Since 2008, Chinese imports have risen 939 percent by value and 1664 percent by quantity. This most recent surge of Chinese solar imports gives the U.S. Department of Commerce the evidence it needs not only to make a preliminary determination in our favor, but also to apply a critica...

The Occupy Wall Street protestors marked 2011 with their resilience. With thousands of participants peacefully demonstrating outside the doors of some of the country's very large corporations, what can be next? Will employees become activists and take their protests to the workplace? ...

Interstate Renewable Energy Council The growth of California’s local solar-power systems, not only on rooftops but in parking lots , farmers’ fields and vineyard irrigation ponds , has kept the state well ahead of others in the total power generated from photovoltaic systems. In 2011,...

Old trees necessary for nesting animals (10/17/2011) Aged, living trees are essential for over 1,000 birds and mammals that depend on such trees for nesting holes, according to a study in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. In much of the world, tree-nesting animals depend on ho...

So if you were going to make a recycled toilet paper, would you make a huge deal about it being brown? Is that really the color that will evoke the most pleasant images when paired with the phrase “recycled toilet paper”? Is anyone even driving this marketing campaign? Because no joke...

Obama's third State of the Union address went pretty much the way everyone thought it would (see my predictions here ). The president established the economic 'fairness' theme that he'll hit on the campaign trail later this year, and tallied up his foreign policy triumphs. Indeed, he ...

“If renewables are owned by the utility, you’re probably ok, in terms of them being under the utility [security] umbrella. If they are not part of the utility, then you could have a problem, you just don’t know,” said Ken Geisler, director of business strategy for Siemens Smart Grid D...

In his Jan. 24 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama reinstated his commitment to renewable energy. Despite the demise of solar manufacturer Solyndra looming over the past year of his term, Obama said that he “will not walk away from the promise of clean energy.” Obama ca...

As Dave Roberts pointed out when the trailer was released, the upcoming Lorax movie is an insult to all that’s good and holy . The original Seuss tale is bleak, sure, but bleak with a purpose: it’s a parable about greed, exploitation, and the consequences of environmental rapaciousnes...

During the fourteen years that I've lived in Switzerland, the Germans have been the world's staunchest supporters of green power and alternative energy. Their aggressive development of wind power was breathtaking, as was their warm embrace of photovoltaic power. Over the last few week...

Written by Maureen Nandini Mitra , Earth Island Journal Its not breaking news that fossil fuel extraction is extremely destructive and puts our plant and animal kingdom at risk. But I think its always worthwhile to pause and take stock of exactly how much of our land, waters and wil...

"We are here because of the Roadster," Reyes said, talking about Tesla as a company. "Because the Roadster so quickly changed everyone's viewpoint on what an electric vehicle could be, an electric car became desirable." And now people are desiring the Model S. The vehicle configurator...

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In November 2011, BP fired an employee named August Walter, who had been working on clean-up of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Now, Wilson says the company fired him because he wouldn’t help gloss over its clean-up shortcuts. He’s suing BP in federal court . BP and the Coast Gu...